The present invention pertains generally to machines having as their function the severing of a V-belt from a band of endless V-belts joined by common webs.
V-belts as commonly used in power transmission applications are manufactured in bands comprised of several V-belts. The user of V-belts often has a need for more or fewer V-belts than is in an available band and accordingly, it is necessary for the seller or user to sever the band to provide the number of V-belts desired. In some instances the cutting of a V-belt from a band of V-belts has been done with a hand-held knife drawn along the common web joining adjacent V-belts. This practice entails a time consuming, tedious cutting operation with the risk of V-belt damage should the knife blade go astray.
In the known prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,656 discloses a manual tool for placement within a vise and having a pair of wheels for V-belt guidance past a fixed blade. Such a tool does not conveniently lend itself to the cutting of heavy duty industrial V-belts several feet in length since the V-belt band must be manually drawn past the blade. Further, with each V-belt severed the heavy belt band must be lifted and reentrained on band supporting wheels and the band forced initially down over the blade tip prior to initiating a cutting operation.